Temple Time

We arrived in Kyoto by way of the Hello Kitty bullet train. The train was decorated in pink, Hello Kitty designs inside and out. It even featured a little Hello Kitty store in the caboose where M took Josh shopping for snacks and vending machine trinkets.

We explored the grounds surrounding the Kyoto Imperial Palace our fist evening in town. There were tons of blooming cherry blossoms and we saw our first “weeping cherry blossom” tree (which is basically a cherry blossom tree shaped like a weeping willow). The weeping variant actually blooms first each year, so these are truly gorgeous right now.

We spent a ton of time exploring this area and observing the trees. That night I felt like I had been hit by a truck. My head was hurting. My nose was running. I couldn’t stop sneezing and I lost my sense of smell. The next morning I was even worse.

My doctorate in google studies concluded I had “Japanese Hay Fever” aka allergies caused by the blooming cherry blossoms this time of year. A stop by a pharmacy for some Japanese Claritin and a little Flonase (from Josh’s travel stash) had me back to functional within a few hours.

I’ve made an effort to wear a mask (like at least half the people here) when we are outdoors and that seems to have helped a lot, as well. M finds the masks very fashionable and has worn hers in solidarity.

Even if I had been at 100%, our first full day in Kyoto was so full it would have been exhausting no matter what. We started the morning with temple after shrine after temple after shrine after temple.

If you’re having trouble keeping up with the difference between a shrine and a temple, here’s the trick we taught M: a shrine is typically associated with the Shinto religion (and both start with S) and a temple is typically associated with the Buddhist religion. Kyoto is home to more than 400 shrines and more than 1600 temples.

I think Josh took us to most of them yesterday! Two of my favorites were Kinkaku-ji which is a Zen Buddhist temple that features a three-story pavilion covered in gold and Ryōan-ji which is another Zen Buddhist temple that features a rock garden and ornately decorated walls which tell the story of a dragon from birth through the rest of its life in a series of 9 art panels.

The site for Kinkaku-ji (also called the Gold Pavilion Temple) has been used as a temple (and plated in gold) since the late 1300s, but the current structure isn’t that old. Apparently, the structure has burned down numerous times throughout history. The most recent time was in 1950 when a young, suicidal monk inadvertently set it on fire. It was rebuilt a few years later in 1955.

The Ryōan-ji (also called the The Temple of the Dragon at Peace) showcases an amazing example of “dry landscaping.” The zen garden here is viewed from a seated position on a platform just above the garden. It’s a carefully curated arrangement of rocks meant to promote meditation. The temple itself was established in the mid-1400s and the zen garden was likely built a century or two later.

The rocks were all fine and good, but the coolest thing about this temple complex was the 17th century tea house! It was a hidden gem we just happened upon right at lunch time.

Having experienced the deliciousness of Buddhist nun/monk vegetarian cuisine at other temples we’ve visited through the years, we knew this would be an incredible experience for M and a decent lunch.

We were also terrified M would barrel through the delicate, paper-thin walls or soil the pristine, tatami mats. But, honestly, she was a perfect angel the entire meal.

We had the only food choice available, a set menu of Yu-dofu (a hot soup of boiled tofu and veggies) served with rice, various vegetable side dishes and tea.

I know, I know. But it was seriously delicious and extremely filling. M had several servings of the steaming soup with soy sauce which was served in a big pot placed right on the table (that we sat around on floor pillows).

After lunch we ventured northwest just outside the city to explore an overcrowded but still very impressive Bamboo Forest. The bamboo was so thick and tall that it was cool and dark inside the forest area because the sun was significantly blocked. It had real potential to be a very peaceful place except for the herd of tourists. We didn’t stay long.

Which was fine because we had one more thing to do in this area! The monkey forest! I will go ahead preface by saying this was the absolute worst thing (considering cost/benefit) we have engaged in for as long as I can remember.

The “forest” was out of the way, expensive to enter and could only be accessed via a STEEP hike up more than a mile of switch-backs. They tell you when you buy the ticket its a “20 minute walk” to get to the monkeys.

Ok. Fine. As soon as we got in, we could see a massive wall of uneven, stone stairs. Ok, I thought, 20 minutes to make it up these stairs is probably a bit excessive. Even with a three-year-old in tow, we should be able to do it in 10 minutes. And we did.

Well, well, well, friends, the 20 minutes doesn’t even start until you’re at the top of the stairs. I was already heavy breathing before the hike began! And I do mean hike. This was intense. Straight up. Switch-back after switch-back.

M was propelled by the desire to see monkeys and somehow managed the entire hike without needing to be carried (or even complaining). If I wasn’t so out of breath, I’d have been really proud!

The monkeys were crap. To be honest, they would have needed to tap dance in costume for me to be impressed after that hike. But this little attraction left much to be desired.

There were maybe a dozen monkeys in the area. Basically doing nothing. You viewed them, from this flat overlook type area. A few ran past. Woo hoo.

The real pull was this unexpected feeding area where you could hand-feed the monkeys through rusty chicken wire with zero protections. Without the need for discussion, it was a hard pass for us. We saw way too many kids get bitten at the “real” monkey forest we visited in Indonesia.

Bedtime came quick and easy after that busy day and the following day, we kept things a little more low-key. We explored the Geisha District, limited Josh to one temple only and attempted a visit to the crowded Nishiki Market.

Despite being full of really interesting food stalls and souvenirs, we didn’t stay long. It was just too many people, too close together. M accidentally hit a guy in the leg, rubbed her sticky, teriyaki octopus on a stick all over some lady’s white coat and nearly grabbed hot coals cooking wagyu beef.

After that, with all three of us on the verge of melting down (for our own various reasons) we called it quits and hit up a Wendy’s for lunch. We had never seen a Wendy’s abroad before. It was decent. They served spaghetti!

We finished the day by splitting up, I came back to the hotel to give myself a break from the pollen and do our laundry. Josh and M - after a short rest - ventured back out for a nighttime cherry blossom lantern festival at one of nearby temples.

While waiting on the laundry, I chatted with a guy from Texas. He and his wife were traveling with their 7-month old daughter. They, too, were avid travelers before the birth of their baby and were committed to continuing to explore the world after becoming parents.

We swapped a few stories and shared a few challenges regarding travel with a child. I found, as the “experienced” parent in the room, I had a bit of advice to share.

Traveling with small children is hard. It would be so much easier to stay home. But our family chose to commit to a set of values that demands we expose our daughter to as many differences in people and places and foods and cultures and languages as we can.

It’s the same as any other family who commits to football Sunday or family game night or any number of things the reinforce their values and traditions.

And while we, of course, can teach things like resilience and confidence and open-mindedness from the comfort of our home, it’s way more fun to do it this way!